This year’s Brass Band Week with Stalham Brass Band was packed with events for senior, youth and trainee players.
James Stretton started the week with a masterclass for the band at Stalham Academy. A tiring but fun packed day with serious training in musicianship.
James has been a professional musician for over 20 years working in most genres of music. As a freelance trumpeter he has performed with major British orchestras, as well as jazz, pop & jingle work. In professional theatre he has worked extensively for the Royal Shakespeare Company and in the brass band world he was formerly in both the Grimethorpe Colliery & Black Dyke bands.
Players on the Brass training scheme in the area schools came together mid-week for a CD recording session organised by Matthew Hall, held at Stalham High School.
On Friday 14th October, all players and families came together for a fantastic evening’s concert by Taverham Brass Band.
The week ended with a hard [but enjoyable] day’s workout in Norwich with members of the famous Leyland Band from Lancashire taking a masterclass.
Leyland’s tutor James McLeod was joined by Principal Cornet Iain Culross, 1st Horn Dave Altham, Soprano Cornet Joe Martin and Eb Bass Chris Doran.
The day long course ended with a short concert under the direction of James, with the other tutors taking seats in the band.
A great group of tutors and an awesome opportunity for our trainees to work with some of the best musicians in the world on a fantastic selection of music. And all this was free for those on the Stalham Brass Band training scheme in the Stalham Area Schools.
For more information on Stalham Brass Band ensembles, visit our ensemble listings.